- DECT 6.0 Plus Technology
- 4 Handsets
- Single Line
- Cordless Phone
- All-Digital Answering System Included
- Bluetooth headset capability
Link-to-cell is incredible. This feature allows me to answer and make calls using my cell phone. I don't have to search around the house for the cell...just keep it in the same place. Pairing was extremely simple, but you will need to read the instructions to navigate the hidden settings menu and whatnot(this is just a one time thing). I literally walked in the house and it paired automatically in about 30 seconds. The memory holds 3034 contacts. Is that too much? Maybe..but during setup, I just let my phone (Droid Incredible) bluetooth all my 400 contacts over...Again, real simple.
Already lost power-
Phone works great. The base receives power from the charged unit and powers the reception to the other handsets as well. The older panasonic models do not have this feature...
Ringtones-
All the tones and melodies are terrible, but when your cell rings, it can mimic the ringtone which is good. I'm just surprised the technology of ringtones hasn't hit the home phone yet???
Headset-
The fiancee uses a headset, and the manual headset does work with this model. The box claims bt headsets work as well (havent tried it).
Multiple lines-
I can make a call using my cellphone line, and make a call using the landline as well at the same time. So you won't be disrupted if someone clicks in.
The speaker quality and phone reception were fine, in my wi-fi/wireless surround sound/million wireless devices condo.
My review above is geared to what I was interested in this phone. If I missed anything..or you have a question, I would be more than happy to test and find the answer for you.
I am happy with this purchase, and will update this review with features/cool things as I encounter them:)
****UPDATE*** 26Jan2012
So I've had this handset system for several months now and I've learned a couple of things to pass on here..
Additional pros-
I have comcast for phone service, and you can program your voicemail settings into the phone for easy access if you prefer that service to the built in answering service.
Speaker phone works well, even on the lowest setting it's fairly loud.
Call block is easy to use. Go to caller id and press save number. It prompts to address book or call block. Done. What it will do in the futurering once and then silence.
Base unitI haven't been downstairs to adjust the base unit since I set it up. All the handsets play voicemail, so the one thing you can do on the base and not the unitsset up bluetooth. So I definitely dig this ecosystem.
Cons-
The intercom feature isn't a normal intercom feature. It should be called a page feature. You have to go into the menu and dail a handset. The handset rings for that user to pick up...so it's definitely not a true intercom at all.First off, I think this will finally convince me that just about all the 1's in reviews are either plants or people that are just hopeless with modern technology. This phone does pair with two cell phones, and yes only one can call out or in at a time (it is a one line phone system after all), but it does indeed have both linked via Bluetooth at the same time, so you can receive calls from either at any time that the one is not in use already. That is more than adequate for me. The menu system is very simple and intuitive. The box came with a "do steps 1-5 and I did those steps and all 6 handsets came up active and known, could not have been more simple.
Then I tossed the instructions in the drawer, went into the menu and downloaded the cell phone's phone books in a couple minutes, easy as breathing. Then easily found the "name this unit" entry and named all six phones (yes, I bought a 6th one). Verified that the intercom was as simple to use as it seemed. then recorded my greeting, and sat down very satisfied customer. Then experimented some and picked up one handset and called the house's landline using one cell phone and guess what, the remaining handsets rang! I don't know why you would want to call yourself that way given you have the intercom feature, but it was kinda cool for a second or two.
The only thing I would have liked is the ability to tie in another two or three handsets, but I guess I did not really need them all that close at hand and will live with just 6 of them (order the Panasonic KX-TGA660M handset to expand to the sixth handset).
As for the guy that thought they were cheap and flimsy, I disagree, they are light, but I take that as a plus when I am spending an hour or two talking to my dad. They also have a nice grip tight rubber area on the back that prevents it from slipping on the counter when you lay it down.
They also DO have a micro plug jack for a headset (micro, not mini) [somebody gave it a 1 because they obviously could not find it there on the side of the phone... go figure].
They also have a nice little light on the top so you can find it in your mancave when the lights are low and you are watching that movie.
Oh, and the dude that complained they had no battery backup obviously did not read the first few pages of the manual. Any of the headsets, when sitting in the base units cradle, can power the base unit for 2-3 hours in a power outage. A nifty way to stay a little greener but cutting down on the number of batteries needed and cutting the amount of charging that occurs. I give them a gold star for a nifty solution. (Yes, I am an engineer, so I can appreciate a good design when I find one). Yes you have to leave that handset in the baseunit, but you always have the other four or the baseunit speakerphone.
And last, but not least, the keypad is pretty large with large numbers for us slightly older folks.
So, completely ignore the people that dumped all over this phone, buy it and enjoy it.
And no, I did not try to connect a Bluetooth headset because I don't like those and don't have any, and wanted both cells linked anyway.I had no idea this Cell to Cordless Bluetooth feature existed and it is one of the single best technology investments I have made in a very long time.
I have a personal cell phone, a work cell phone (Blackberry), and a home phone land line, and for years have had to either carry my cell phones around the house with me or go running over to where ever they are charging at the moment when a call comes in.
Well no more. The Panasonic KX-TG7643M came to my attention while looking around for a Father's Day gift. It is a Speaker Phone, Answering Machine, has Battery Back-Up, and I got the Base Unit and 3 handset option, and the keypad in the base unit.
First the star feature, Bluetooth link to my cell phone. Out of the box the manual is a little daunting and obviously Panasonic knew this and had a quick start on the inside cover for very basic operation but including cell phone pairing and a cheat sheet in addition to the full manual for more commonly used advanced feature, very nice balance of documentation, a rare thing these days.
Out of the box it was about 5 minutes to the point of trying to link my first cell to it, less than a minute later it was done, same for my second cell phone.
Next I transferred in the phone books from each cell phone, and in under a minute for each it added the 300 or so numbers on my two cell phones and the nice surprise is that it keeps each phone book in it's own group, however you can look at them combined also.
So for some test, the buttons for Cell 1 and Cell 2 had turned green meaning they were ready to go so I used Cell one to call cell 2 and answered cell 2 from the Panasonic base unit, worked perfectly.
Next I called out using Cell 1 and then Cell 2, again both worked perfectly. I then have my friend call each of the cell phones and I had configured the Panasonic to use the cell phones own ring tone for each, and so when it rang it had the cell phone ring tone letting me know which phone the call was coming in on, it also tells you on the base unit display and the handset display which line it is using.
I originated a cell phone call through the pani and then picked up the phone and left the house, it linked control back to the cell phone and there as not even so much as a beep or click, the call continued now from the cell unit. Works coming home while on a cell call, as soon as you get in the house (one minute actually) the cell auto links back the to pani and you can continue the call from the base unit or any of the handsets.
Can't tell you know nice it is to have all of this in one consolidated system now. So far so good, however I was replacing a Motorola cordless phone system that I had done a lot of homework of to get a great speaker phone, something I use a lot, and so I was a little worried that the pani might be crummy as most are, but it is actually as good as the Motorola was so no issues, you make make it plenty loud, and talk at a normal level.
Caller ID is has a voice feature and will say the Caller ID information out loud if you turn it on, this is really nice on the handset in the bedroom in that I can just listen to know if I need to pick up or not, no need to try to sit up enough to read the display while half asleep.
The last feature I will really highlight is the battery back-up. This is unlike most cordless phones offer, the batter back-up does not just save your settings until power is returned, it actually power the base unit and allows you to using any of the handsets during a power failure.
It has a ton of other features and they are pretty much as good or better than you find on any of the phones these days, lots of customization options, ability to link in your cell phone and land line voice mail, block specific phone numbers (not by the phone company, on your phone), set ring-tones to numbers, decide which handsets or set all to be able to get and make calls over the cell phones, and you can even use this with no land line at all, just tell it to only use the cell line(s) and it will but seem like a typical land line call. Oh you can also have a Bluetooth or wired headset if you don't like speaker phones for hands free operation.
If you have one or two cell phones and chase them around the house, hit dead spots in the house, want to have your cell phone charging and not be tethered to the wall while taking calls on it at home, want to use those free or cheap off-hour minutes from your cell but using a nice home phone, then this is a great answer and for a pretty good price.Let me first talk about my phone setup.
1. I use google voice + Obihai 110 (highly recommend) as a free land-line, google voice will forward calls to both my cellphone and panasonic 7644M.
2. I have one cellphone paired directly with 7644M with link-to-cell.
3. Finally, I use link-to-cell to pair my computer with 7644M, so as to make computer calls with skype, etc.
Below are the results for this setup, I numbered them corresponding to the above 3 different ways of using the phone.
1. There is no problem using GV this way, I read from one previous review that if GV forwards calls to both a landline and a mobile-phone, there will be a glitch that the other side cannot hear your voice. But in my case, GV forwards calls to google chat (which is converted by ohihai 110 to voip signal), and mobile phone. And there isn't any glitch at all. When receiving a call, usually 7644M would ring first, then after 2-3 seconds, my cellphone rings, I can pick-up either phone to answer the call.
2. Basic feature of link-to-cell phones, works like a charm, really easy to setup. One thing worth mentioning is its ability to transfer contacts from mobile phone to landline. However, to copy all contacts together as a whole to 7644M, your phone need to support PBAP (phone book access profile), which seems not existing in my cellphone. So I have to transfer contacts individually. Another good thing is you can make multiple calls using different handset at the same time. For example, if one handset is making calls using cellphone signal, another handset can still use the land-line to call someone else. I believe there can be 3 simultaneous calls (1 land line, 2 link-to-cell) at maximum.
3. This is like using it as a bluetooth headset paired to computer. The manual doesn't mention anything about it, but it turns out working well. Here are the steps to achieve this. First, use link-to-cell to pair the phone with your computer. After pairing is successful, your computer will automatically install the drivers for this blue-tooth handset. Then in the sound and recording devices, you should be able to see one new device named blue-tooth hands free audio. Now, if you want to chat on skype with this handset, dial a random number (I dialed 1) using the handset via the computer link-to-cell, since this is an empty number, you will not be connected to anyone. But after a few beeps, the handset will establish a voice connection to your computer. You can now chat via skype or any other chatting software with your handset, assuming you have properly setup the sound devices within these softwares.
One major problem using it with skype is that the handset would hang up either when skype finishes a call or when there is no call and no sound from computer for like 10 seconds. This means after you dialing 1 with the handset, you need to dial the person you need to call immediately on computer, and the connection only last one call, after which you need to repeat again to establish connection. The numberpad on handset works with some lag in skype. I guess there is some workaround for skype to maintain a constant or automatic connection, but didn't figure out how.
I also tried to set my default audio device as 7644 on computer, and played mp3 via the handset speakerphone. It's mono sound obviously, but acceptable for some audio books. I tested for about 10 mins without seeing any problem, and handset automatically hang up after I stopped music for 15-20 seconds.
As you can see, this phone integrates all of my phone services. Whenever I receive calls from cellphone, GV, skype, I can answer them with it. I can also make calls with it using all the above services.
A few comments for the difference between 7641 series and 7621 series if someone wonders. They are basically the same except for
1. handset on 7641 have headphone jacks.
2. You can dial and speak via the base unit with 7641, while 7621 only have the answering machine function on the base unit.
3. For the same reason, 7621 doesn't have base unit display, and there is no intercom between base unit and handset.
4. 7641 have power back-up mode during power failure, which means you can still make calls even there is a power outage less than 13 hours.
5. I didn't see on 7621 description page it has range-boost, while 7641 clearly says it has range-boost, which allow 20% more distance between base unit and handset.
So if you only use your handset to make calls, and your area doesn't have power outage once in a year. Then probably 7621 could also meet your needs.
I just played with it for half a day, so cannot comment on its reliability. But for its versatility and good sound quality, I would vote it for more than 5 stars!
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Update: 2/21/2012
a few small glitches of the phone.
1. Bluetooth headset: This phone system supports connecting to a bluetooth headset, as one would usually do with a regular cellphone. The headset function works, but probably not in conjunction with link-to-cell. However, my problem is, after the headset is registered with the phone system, it cannot be removed, and this causes problem if you want to connect the bluetooth headset to another device, like cellphone or computer. Suppose I paired my BT headset to my cellphone, if someone rings me and I want to pickup the call by pressing the button on the BT headset. Right now, every time I tried to do this, the BT headset will connect to panasonic phone rather than my cellphone. It's not a big issue, but annoying sometimes.
2. Voicemail notice: The phone has built-in voicemail. But as others mentioned in the comment, after receiving the first voice mail, there would always be a "new voice mail" notice appearing in both the base and the headsets. Since I usually use GV voicemail, it's not a problem for me.
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My husband just got these phones for me for Mother's Day and I LOVE them. I am a long time Panasonic cordless phone system user and am always happy with the new features and improvements. The bluetooth is the reason to get this model obviously. So easy to link your cell up to the phone system. I no longer have to run downstairs or across the house to answer my cell. I was able to copy my entire phonebook/contacts from my cell into the phone system which is soooo convienent! The system holds around 3,000 number in the phonebook. I can access any of those numbers from any handset and use either my LAN line or cell through the home handset. This is nice because it is so much more comfortable to talk from the home handset than my cell and I don't have to look up a number on my cell then dial it from my house phone. I look up the number, and either press TALK to go through the LAN line or press CELL to dial through my cell phone. You can also check answering machine messages through the handset which is nice when you may not want to play then in front of visitors. You can also record your answering machine greeting from any handset as well. Nice big easy to read display which is important as my eyes are not as good as they used to be! The handset is backlit when dialing so you can see what you are dialing even in the dark. It is a nice compact base and the color is charcoal gray and black which is fine with me. Also, each handset has speakerphone which I use regularly and never get any complaints. Hope this was helpful and that you purchase these phone and love them as I do. Big thanks to my hubby for such a great gift!
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